Viacom, if rumors are to be believed, is trying to corner the market in meta-journalism. It already owns The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Now whispers say it’s in the early stages of trying to acquire The Onion, the most trusted name in fake news.
Shadowy sources are saying the deal may never go through, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from flipping out about it. It’s not the worst idea in the world: They could purchase the site for a song and lay claim to a major beachhead of hipster humor, adding to a youth-skewing archipelago that already includes Comedy Central, VH1, and MTV.
But will The Onion be able to square its nimble comic abandon and common-sense anarchy with corporate oversight and contorted synergies? And will Viacom know what to do with material that would make MTV blanch like a menopausal Rotarian?
On this count, there are arguments in Viacom’s favor. Their names are Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. South Park, especially, has managed to preserve its molotov volatility in the face of predictable, perhaps unavoidable corporate timidity. The question is: Do the editors of The Onion care to have those fights?
Does the prospect of a corporate Onion keep you up nights?
In a related note to my corporate parent, Time-Warner: Can I say &#%@*% yet? No? Okay, that’s cool.
(&#%@*%!)
[UPDATE: Oh, never mind. Apparently it's totally not happening.]
For the love of God no! – the Onion must not sell out. I discovered this bastion of hilarity back in 1999 and it was a life changing experience. Just reading headlines out of one of their best of the onion books with friends – provides hours of laughter and pants peeing. The Onion must maintain its editorial integrity by remaining a stand alone entity.
I remember the Onion when it was a joke paper handed out at local shops in Madison, Wisconsin back in the 1980′s. Thanks to that Newspaper, I discovered Evan Dorkin (Milk& Cheese was their main comic strip for years), Dan Savage, and respect for film critics (the AV Club). With Viacom recently opting not to air Muhammad’s image on tv in my mind, it’s hard to believe that corporate ownership WON’T have a disparate impact on that newspaper. After all, this is the newspaper who said that Mother Teresa was mistakenly sent to hell. Would viacom let them print something like that?
Can’t Viacom leave well enough alone?
Hours of pants-peeing, Onion Fanatic?
Remind me to put on the vinyl sofa cover next time you come by…
I read the Onion at lunch every Wednesday and I love Dan Savage and the AV Club as well. Please don’t change it!
Jim,
If I’m over and you whip out the stories – “F*** It, We’re Doing Five Blades” and/or “Visiting Gore Calls Pennsylvania ‘A Hellhole’”, I guarantee that you’ll need some protection on your couch.
-OnionFanatic
PS. Area Wildcat a Real Wildcat in the Sack.
I love the Onion, too, but the site is an ad-filled nightmare. I stopped going when I found my pop-up blocker in a corner, crying from the stress.
Is there a way to read the thing without being beaten to death by endless ads, videos, and pop-ups?
It’d be cool if the Onion did more local editions in print. They still do them in Madison, Wisconsin that way and in a few other college towns. I’d LOVE to see the Onion-DC.
Does anyone remember “Death Star to Open Day Care Center”? Jim and Onion fan would have to break out the vynyl covers then for sure!
The Onion has been trying to sell itself for years. Proof of a past attempt at a Viacom buyout via Comedy Central can be found here. They didn’t move to NYC to just ride the subways and take in Misshapes parties.
And FWIW, former Onion editor Ben Karlin is Jon Stewart’s right-hand man as far as writing The Daily Show goes. And guess who’s at Stephen Colbert’s side at The Colbert Report? Former Onion editor Rich Dahm. A deal with Viacom makes sense.
Link did not come through. Here it is now:
http://www.fuckedcompany.com/extras/onion_email.cfm